Fatburger, Tanjong Katong: Make Burgers Great Again?

Landing this month on our shores is not one but two outlets of Fatburger at Velocity @ Novena Square and Kinex mall (formerly known as OneKM mall). Available in over 200 locations spanning across 25 countries, Fatburger has gained a huge following which includes Hollywood celebrities such as Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and Queen Latifah for its thick and juicy hamburgers.

Fatburger, founded in 1952 with the tagline “the last great hamburger stand”, is best known for its cooked-to-order and custom-made burgers with varying number of beef patties. They source their meat locally and it is never frozen. Using a meat ratio of 80:20 (80% ground chuck and 20% fat), Fatburger does its burgers medium well. However if you would like to have your meat done differently, you can tell them to prepare the way you want it.

Also, if you are a big fan of meat, you could consider going for their Quad (XXXXL) hamburger which consists of 4 beef patties. Conquer that and earn your spot on their Wall of Fame…for eternity.

The veggies here are prepared fresh daily and you can choose either brioche or wholemeal for your buns. The usual suspects of toppings/condiments that you can select include mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, relish and mustard. If you would like to have additional toppings, you can choose from the following at $1 each: cheese, egg, beef bacon, chilli, onion rings.

Anyone who is on a gluten-free diet would be happy to know that Fatburger also offers an option of having your buns gluten-free at an additional $2.90. There is also a veggie burger ($7.50) on the menu to cater to those who can’t take meat. To make it into a set, one can opt to fork out $4 more for fries and unlimited soft drink refills.

I tried the skinny burger ($7.50), with cheese and egg add-ons (a shout out to fitness enthusiasts – finally a healthy-ish burger) as I was still full from my heavy lunch earlier on. Taking my first bite into the burger, I am pleasantly surprised that the burger is able to hold its form well even without the buns. The burger is ok but it tastes generic. The relish, cheese and egg come in handy as they help to balance the rather dry beef patties.

Sides offered at Fatburger include: fat fries and skinny fries ($3.90 each); sweet potato fries, homemade onion rings and chilli cheese fries ($5.90 each). Of all the sides, I think the onion rings would be the one that you should save your calories for. It’s made-to-order with individual onion slices dipped into Fatburger’s special batter sauce and fried to perfection. It is sweet, juicy and moreish.

Another staple in all-America hamburger place would be milkshakes. Fatburger’s menu features hand-scooped real ice cream milkshakes with the following flavours: oreo cookies, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry ($5.90 each). We are told that they don’t dilute the taste of the milkshakes by adding milk or any fillers. So it’s just blended ice cream. But I thought it defeats the purpose of calling it a “milkshake”. I suppose ice cream contains milk so it’s not wrong in that sense… After having the milkshakes, it’s so sweet that we feel we should measure our blood sugar level immediately. Texture wise, it’s creamy and dense but only for those who want a sugar rush.

For those who can’t take beef, fret not. There are also chicken burgers available, although one can only choose between crispy chicken ($7.50) or grilled chicken ($7.50). There are also lesser toppings/condiments (lettuce, tomato and mayo) as compared to the beef hamburger for the same price. We had the grilled chicken burger which has a nice char and seasoning (seems like Cajun?) but perhaps the chicken is left a little too long on the grill and it is rather dry. The chicken patty could also have been thicker as I feel the sheer size of the bun overwhelms the meat.

I like the idea that I can customise my burger here and food is prepared to order so I will always get my food hot. Hence one also has to be patient while waiting for your order to be ready as it will take some time. On the whole, the food here is satisfactory, although there are a few hits and misses.